01 Goddess in the Machine
Goddess in the Machine is not just a gorgeous cover. I'm not too far into this yet, but Lora Beth Johnson already has me hooked by the premise and the voice.
Teenage Andra finally wakes up after being cryogenically preserved for a century-long journey to a new planet. She's a little creaky and sore, sure, but she's ready to be reunited with the team, which includes her mother and the rest of her family, plus many others involved in the complex project. They'll begin the work of bravely populating and building a new life on this planet.
Except...Andra soon realizes she wasn't sleeping for 100 years. She was asleep for 1,000. The people, terrain, and language are not what she studied for or expected, everyone she knows has already lived and died--oh, and the general population, whoever they are, thinks she's a goddess, and they've been waiting excitedly for her to wake up and save them.
See my full review here.
02 Beach Read
Is it fair for a person (me) with particular requirements for light fiction (ideally: not too outlandish of a hook and premise, characters who follow somewhat logical steps in their lives, inner voices that feel real, human connections that warm my heart, and a little romantic something-something) to continue reading light fiction while kind of expecting disappointment?
Yes. Yes, it is. Because I think Emily Henry's Beach Read is going to be a major gem on the light fiction-escapism-pandemic-era reading list.
It took five (short) chapters to take off for me, but I am in for this. Beach Read meets my criteria above, it's sweet and funny, it's about writing and books, there are wonderfully faulted love-crossed main protagonists, and a sexy-playful-obsession-maybe-heartbreak-then-love seems to be brewing. Henry has made me laugh repeatedly out loud, and I have a suspicion that she might bring me to tears at some point and I won't hate it.
03 A Good Girl's Guide to Murder
It's been years since a local young woman, Andie Bell, was murdered by Sal Singh. But Pippa Fitz-Amobi is becoming convinced that Sal didn't do it after all. What happens if the real killer is still on the loose--and what if the murderer finds out Pippa is stirring up suspicion about what really happened?
Is this kind of a young adult fiction version of the Serial podcast? I'm really hoping so.
I recently mentioned this book in the Greedy Reading List Six Newish Young Adult Mysteries I Want to Read. This one went straight to the top of my young adult mystery reading list. And, ahem, it's due back to the library momentarily, so I will be reading and reviewing it promptly!
What are you reading now?
The mix of different genres I read concurrently are usually reactive--a result of my library hold list timing or incoming advance reader copies. But I do like having wildly disparate reading adventures going on at once. Are you a one-book-at-a-time reader, or do you dabble with reading different types of books at once?